We’re counting down the days until the Panthers open up the 2025 season!
There are 68 days until the 2025 season kickoff for the Carolina Panthers. That means today’s post is about Damien Lewis, starting guard and number 68 for the black and blue.
Before the Panthers
The path the 6-foot-2, 327-pounder took to the NFL is a unique one. He began his college career at Northwest Mississippi Community College where he played in 2016 and 2017. Lewis dominated those two seasons, amassing back-to-back junior college All-American awards.
In 2018 he transferred to LSU and started two seasons for the Tigers, including the 2019 national championship team led by quarterback Joe Burrow.
Following his college career he was a 2020 third round pick by the Seattle Seahawks. He won the Week 1 starting gig as a rookie, started the entire season, and was named to the NFL’s All-Rookie Team. He started all four of the seasons he played in Seattle.
His impact in Carolina
After four seasons with the Seahawks, he signed in 2024 as a free agent with our very own Carolina Panthers. The Panthers were desperate to bolster the interior offensive line, both to open the running game and protect Bryce Young, and they spent accordingly to land Lewis’s services. Before the 2024 season he signed a 4-year, $53 million deal with $26.2 million guaranteed to come to Carolina.
Those $53 million dollars aren’t an expense to the Carolina Panthers.
They’re an investment.
And after one season with the Panthers, the return on that investment is looking good.
Last year Damien Lewis started all 16 games in which he played. His 77.5 PFF grade ranked second among Panthers offensive linemen and ranked No. 13 in the NFL among guards. He’s going to reprise his starting role in 2025 barring an injury or aliens invading planet Earth.
The one area he can improve is pass protection. According to PFF, last year he gave up six sacks which ranked just 126th of 138 guards. If he can clean up his pass protection in his second year in the Panthers system, he could position himself for the first Pro Bowl selection of his NFL career.